By Carol Look, EFT Master
Last week I taught two EFT classes to therapists, many
of whom were overwrought and distressed from their own
feelings about the September 11th trauma. Their distress
of course was amplified by their clients' feelings about
September 11th and the future. This case shows how EFT
unravels a “stuck” piece of the traumatic imagery from
Sept. 11th and how using exact language is needed to “hit
the spot.”
It involved a young social worker who was still feeling
traumatized by the image of a man falling/jumping out a
window following the planes crashing into the World Trade
Center. The image that was stuck in “John’s” mind came
from a direct, vivid picture from a television news
report.
John had been taught EFT in a class setting last week,
however it did “nothing” for his feelings of terror and
being traumatized. He admitted to being disappointed that
it “hadn’t worked” and was now very skeptical of my raving
enthusiasm. While initially reluctant, John agreed to be a
demonstration subject in class. I had some concerns myself
about the outcome, but knew if I was present enough and
let go of any need to have it “work”, I would be able to
guide him through an EFT experience that would help reduce
his distress, even if he didn’t become an EFT convert. I
was hoping that the impact of EFT would be even more
worthwhile if I had some success with a true skeptic.
John told me that he felt uptight in his body,
especially in his chest and that he felt fear and upset
when picturing this scene. He said he could recall it
vividly all too frequently and that the intensity of the
scene had remained a “10” since he first saw it.
We started by tapping for “Even though I’m upset
because of this man falling from the window…” We
tried this round twice. He admitted that the scene or
picture from the television story was now more “distant”
for him and harder to access. (This is a common response
when using EFT for the first time) He then became more
specific and told me he felt afraid “AS IF” he was the one
falling from the window himself. It was as if he
over-identified with what the man “must have” been feeling
as he fell. We then tapped for “Even though I’m afraid
for him because he’s falling, and he must have been
afraid, and I’m scared…I deeply and completely accept
myself and my feelings…”
We then focused on John’s feelings of tightness in his
chest. “Even though I feel this tension in my chest…”
He reported that the tension in his chest had dissipated,
but tension now moved into his arms. (This is not unlike
“chasing the pain” when working with physiological
symptoms. The sensations often move around before they
leave the body) We tapped one more time for this tension
in his body, until the physical sensations continued to
move down and then out his arms. He reported feeling much
better.
Finally, as we were tapping one more time for his
feeling afraid, John looked at me and said, “Oh…it
just occurred to me, I think I’m afraid of heights, and
that’s what’s being triggered here.” He had never
identified this phobia or deep fear before, and it
surprised him. This fear/phobia was revealed as a result
of tapping for the fears “for” this other man.
We continued tapping...
“Even though I’m afraid of heights…and would be
terrified to jump…afraid if I fell…I deeply and profoundly
accept myself and my feelings.”
“Even though I’d be so afraid of falling, and of
jumping…”
“Even though I am so afraid of falling…of heights…”
This greatly reduced John’s discomfort and he said it
appeared to be the heart of his lingering traumatized
feelings.
While this class demonstration was no more than 10-15
minutes long, the other therapists and John were able to
witness EFT’s effectiveness despite strong skepticism, the
built in awkwardness of a class setting, and a previous
experience when a tapping routine was unsuccessful. While
there was more work to do, John could not deny the relief
he experienced.
